The 4onthefloor, Soul Asylum crowdfunding new albums

Gabe Douglas of the 4onthefloor performs at The Current's eighth birthday party at First Avenue in 2013. Photo by Nate Ryan/MPR.

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Two prominent local bands are turning to the public to help support the release of new music. Across the country, crowdfunding has helped bring a degree of control back into musicians’ hands and has allowed bands to interact directly with their fan bases. Today, we’re seeing it utilized in the Twin Cities as both legendary band Soul Asylum and local rockers the 4onthefloor turn to the Internet to help fund new albums, with exclusive gifts bundled in for certain donation amounts.

Soul Asylum’s campaign can be found on pledgemusic.com. Little information is given on the site about the new album, but there is a promise to backers that with a minimum payment of $10, they can hear the album the moment the band decides to release it – which they promise will be days before the official release. If you’re willing to shell out even more, you can receive signed vinyl, lyric sheets, drumsticks, or guitars; an exclusive voicemail message recorded for you by the band; a drum workshop with their drummer, Michael Bland; and for a cool $10,000, your own informal acoustic show. For more on the history of this storied Minnesota band, read Jay Gabler’s recent retrospective of Soul Asylum’s career.

Over on Kickstarter, the 4onthefloor have given themselves until April 16 to raise their goal of $10,000. The band describes their new record, All In, which is due in May, as “fast, ferocious, and everything you’ve come to enjoy & stomp along with.” Backers are being offered the usual digital download, CD, or vinyl copy of the album, for pledges of respectively $10, $15, and $20. For $88, you can also enjoy your own exclusive baseball t-shirt with a personalized number on the back, to count yourself in as one of the 4onthefloor team. More than 30 shirts have been sold from a run of just over 100, so there’s still time to join in. If you pledge $1,200, you can choose a cover song for the band to perform, meaning if you’ve ever wanted to hear a King Crimson song in 4/4 time, here’s your chance. Last, for $4,444, you can receive your own private 4onthefloor concert.

Gabriel Douglas of the 4onthefloor visited The Current studio today to talk with Jade and shed a little more light on their new album, crowdfunding campaign, and their upcoming show in First Avenue’s Mainroom on Friday, May 22. Listen to their conversation, and hear the 4onthefloor’s new song “Lake Street Shuffle”:

Hannah Marie Hron is a sophomore at Hamline University who is majoring in English and Communications with a minor in Women’s Studies. Her favorite things include Kim Deal, biking, donuts, and Kendrick Lamar.